As the state of N.C. was awakening out of its supposed economic slumber in the antebellum period (early eighteen hundreds) our road system was in terrible shape. It seems the only way to get around by land was to ride a horse, oxen, wagon, buggy, stagecoach or just plain walk. Most rural roads were still just pig paths while the so-called main roads weren’t much better. Why after a big rain travel would just about come to a stand still all over our state.
It was during these years that a lot of folks were migrating from northern states or following the low country rivers up into the piedmont and most western parts of our state. Land was still available for farmers and tradesmen alike. But, in most cases good roads were non-existent.
To get their livestock to market, in the bigger eastern towns, folks were driving their herds of cows and pigs or in a lot of cases fowl right down the middle of the pig paths or roads for miles. Cotton, corn, tobacco and other goods had to be hauled on wagons pulled by horses or oxen through some extremely bad roads to get to an inland port.
Steamboats in southeastern N.C. could only travel up the Cape Fear as far as Fayetteville and up the Pee Dee River as far as Cheraw S.C. If you lived in the piedmont or western section of the state it would take several days of slow travel to get your goods to one of these destinations. From Fayetteville it would take a steamboat 12 to 24 hrs. to get to Wilmington. From Cheraw to Georgetown the trip might take two to four days depending on the current and number of stops the boat made. Then the time for the boats to return with different goods or people could take even longer.
Another mode of travel was by the stagecoach. It could take 3 to 5 days for a coach traveling from Fayetteville to Salem (Winston Salem). The traveler faced treacherous conditions and the average speed for the coach was 5 to 6 miles per hour. The trip from Cheraw was about the same time but over some of the worst road systems in the country. Trees down in the road and mud were just a few obstacles for both man and beast.
It was during the 1840s that limited train travel came along in N.C. The first track was built from Wilmington to Weldon which was then connected to the Virginia tracts. This was a good thing if you farmed or lived close to the train routes.
It was about this same time that a cry went-up from central and western citizens of the state to the state legislature and governor to build plank roads to provide better and faster transportation to our inland ports.
The idea of the plank roads was used in Canada and was making its way down through the northern states of our growing country. Even though the plank roads were constructed with nontreated wood they were supposed to last ten years with little maintenance.
Although there were several N.C. governors during the “plank road fever” roughly from (1849-1855) Governor William Graham (in office 1845-1849) was key to getting these plank road projects off the ground. Then it was Governor David Reed (1851-1854) who oversaw most of the construction throughout the state.
To begin with, the land for the route of a plank road or (Farmer’s railways as they were called) had to the bought or in some cases taken through the new eminent domain laws. Then the roadbed had to be graded above the foreseen mud line and according to the law an adjacent well graded dirt road had to be along side of the plank road.
After grading, large sleepers (6-8 inches thick) made of oak and pine were laid like a railroad tract crosstie. Then wooden planks were nailed on top and covered with sand or gravel for traction. The road had to be 8ft wide.
It seems N.C. was blessed with trees, so construction materials were not always a problem.
To help pay the cost of the road toll houses were built along the route. Teamsters and their large wagons mostly used this plank road system and horse, and buggies used the adjacent dirt roads.
Though over 500 miles of plank roads were laid by the 1850s (with one being 129 miles long) the system failed!!! This is Why.
1. The N.C. climate started deterioration and warping of the green wood in less than five years.
2. Economic failure- maintenance cost was high and toll houses were being bypassed.
3. Railroad competition: the completion of N.C. railroads in 1856 provided faster, more durable transportation. Rail tracks had been laid by enslaved labor and later convicts from the eastern shore to Asheville, N.C.
4. Civil War: the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 redirected state funds and labor. All these factors lead to the abandonment of the remaining plank road routes.
Today as we drive along our nice highway and about the only reminder, we see of the old plank roads, is an historical sign placed by the side of the highway by the state. It reads something like this “Plank roads once crossed this highway near this spot.”
Although it failed, the plank road movement was an important step by the state toward improving transportation infrastructure for the state’s economic growth. Today, N.C. is known far and wide for its great road systems.